


Dakaven-fish

by deathishauntedbyhumans



Series: Pet Store AU [3]
Category: Milo Murphy's Law
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Pet Store, Cav has cold hands, Customer Cavendish, Fish, Gen, I'd apologise for the title but I'm the worst so I'm not GONNA, Inspired by Real Events, Lots of Unnecessary Explanation About Fish Care, M/M, Meet-Cute, goldfish, puns, someone help this poor man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 06:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13475850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathishauntedbyhumans/pseuds/deathishauntedbyhumans
Summary: Vinnie works at a pet store AU! Cavendish comes in looking to buy a fish, and Vinnie helps him by explaining (read: over-explaining) everything that he needs to know about goldfish care.





	Dakaven-fish

The attractive man with the green suit and matching top hat had been staring at the wall of fish tanks for the last twenty minutes when Vinnie finally decided to approach him and ask if he needed help. He’d walked past several times, but either he  _ didn’t  _ need help, or he was just… really interested in fish. 

“Hiya!” Dakota greeted, and the man startled violently, looking over at him with a vaguely scandalised expression. “...is there, uh, anything I can do for you?” 

“...I’m looking to buy a fish,” the man stated after a moment of obviously attempting to school his features into something resembling… well, less of a goldfish. 

“We’ve got lots of those,” Vinnie responded with an easy smile. The man merely blinked at him, and after a second, Vinnie coughed and cleared his throat awkwardly. “What kinda fish were you thinkin’ about getting?” 

“I’m not quite certain,” the man replied, turning back to the wall of tanks. “I’ve been trying to decide, but I don’t think I know enough about them to make a decision.” 

Vinnie perked up again, both at the realisation that this man had a really nice British accent, and at the fact that this was something he could definitely help with. “I can help with that. You describe the kind of setup you’re thinking, and I’ll tell you what you can do with it.” 

The green-suited man blinked again before nodding slowly. “...alright. Well, I was thinking something not too big, but my not-nephew was telling me about how most fish need something larger, so…” 

“It really depends on the fish,” Vinnie said, nodding in agreement. His brain caught briefly on the phrase “not-nephew” before he skipped over it. He’d heard weirder things. (Like that one heavily-tattooed man who picked up a hamster like it was no big deal when one escaped and handed it to Vinnie with a quiet, “My friends call me the hamster whisperer.”  _ That _ had been weird.) “If you want something  _ really  _ small, then I’d recommend a betta. They can live in little tanks. And bowls, technically, but it’s not really  _ recommended.”  _

The man shook his head immediately. “No. I’m not going to put anything in a bowl,” he stated adamantly, and Vinnie felt his fondness for this customer swell immensely. “I was thinking… ten gallons? Is that too small?” 

“No! Not at all!” Ever-excited that the prospect of a customer that would actually listen to what he had to say, Dakota pointed at the colourful fish on the opposite side of the wall. “A ten gallon can be good for a bunch of different fish! Have you thought about getting a heater or not?” 

“A heater?” 

“For tropicals,” Vinnie explained. “Tropical fish need the water to be warmer, between seventy-eight and eighty-four degrees. So you have to put a heater in the water.” 

The man looked a little nervous, if the wringing of his hands was anything to go by. “Is the heater difficult to use?” 

Vinnie shrugged, making a face. “Not  _ really _ . I mean, it goes in the water and then you monitor the temperature with a thermometer.” 

He still didn’t look too sure of the idea. “Is there anything that doesn’t need a heater?” 

“Sure!” Vinnie pointed to the tanks in front of them. “None of the goldfish need heaters. Some of them  _ do  _ need tanks that are a little bigger than ten gallons, though. Would you maybe be interested in one that’s larger?”

The man’s brow creased, but he didn’t look as though he’d been talked out of the idea. “How much larger?” 

“Well, it depends on the fish, but something between twenty to thirty gallons would probably be ideal.” 

“Oh.” The man looked relieved, even though he was still wringing his hands in front of him absently. “That’s not so bad. Yes, I could do that.” 

“Awesome.” Vinnie rubbed his hands together, grinning, and began to explain the different types of goldfish that they carried. 

 

“I think I like the Oranda. That large one?” Cavendish, who had covered his first name with his thumb when he’d shown his ID, finally told him, after Vinnie had both explained the different types of goldfish and the different tank options he had. He had a cart beside him now, filled to bursting with a twenty-gallon tank kit, water conditioner, food, and everything else that he would need in order to get his tank running. “I’ll come back for it,” he added quickly, his cheeks pinking just a tad. Over the course of the last hour of talking, Vinnie had already gotten used to the man’s continuous embarrassment and annoyance that he seemed to consistently go between. 

“Sure,” Vinnie agreed, smiling easily at him. Cavendish’s cheeks went even pinker, and he turned to the cart full of things, picking up a net and turning it over in his hands. “Just give it a couple days to cycle, and then you’ll be ready for your new lil’ critter!” 

“Right. Thank you…” Cavendish checked his name tag, and he smiled just slightly. “Vinnie. Thank you for all your assistance. You’ll be here in two days around this time?”  

“Yup,” Vinnie responded, rocking once on the balls of his feet. “I’ll be here.” 

Cavendish looked as relieved as Vinnie had seen him so far. “Good. I look forward to receiving your help again.” He held out his hand, and Vinnie accepted it for the handshake, albeit just a tad awkwardly. Cavendish’s hand was cold in his own warm one. “My name is Cavendish.” 

Vinnie resisted the urge to mention that he’d seen his name on the ID, and just nodded, releasing Cavendish’s hand to point at his own name tag. “Vinnie. Nice to meetcha,” he replied with a winning smile. Cavendish blushed again, and then nodded. 

“I’ll see you in a few days,” he said, and then turned and began quickly pushing his cart towards the register. Vinnie watched him go, feeling rather ridiculously optimistic and looking forward to his shift in two days. 

**Author's Note:**

> I work at a pet store so most of these are going to be inspired by stuff I've actually experienced lmao
> 
> Kudos/comments are love!  
> Come scream at on tumblr @deathishauntedbyhumans


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